The Porter Main Floor Renovation Planning Team is responsible for overseeing the development of renovation plans for the revitalization of the Dana Porter Library's main floor.
Context
Thousands of students enter Dana Porter Library daily to use information resources and services or to study. With funds that become available through Campaign Waterloo, and taking advantage of other funding as opportunity allows, the Library plans to revitalize the main floor by upgrading the physical and information technology environment. Key goals are to enhance the student learning experience by using accessibility and universal design principles to create a welcoming, vital space that incorporates a research centre, service points, social space, and study space for both individuals and groups.
The Dana Porter Main Floor Renovation Planning Team has been established to consider design and cost details. The Walter Fedy Partnership has been hired as consultants for the process.
Scope
The team will develop plans for the renovation of the main floor of Dana Porter Library and the accommodation of displaced functions that move to other locations off the main floor. Planning will begin immediately, in conjunction with the development of a master planning document for the Dana Porter Library by The Walter Fedy Partnership. The planning process is expected to be completed by October 2006.
The Planning Team will:
Alex McCulloch (Chair)
Marian Davies (Porter ISR)
Janet Wason (Porter ISR)
Jamie Russell (Circulation Services)
Eric Boyd (Facilities)
Carl Nagel (Systems)
Christy Branston (member-at-large)
Sponsor: Library Executive Committee, with Sharon Lamont as administrative contact, in consultation with the University Architect, Dan Parent.
Update 1: May 30, 2006
The Porter Renovation Planning Team is underway! Following the call that went out for a member-at-large, Christy Branston has joined the team. Full membership of the team is available at our new website at http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/renodpl/index.html. The site will soon be linked from the left-hand navigation bar in the “Groups” area. Thank you to Rachel Caldwell for creating and managing the site.
The Planning Team held its first meeting on May 15 to review background material in preparation for meeting with the architects. At different stages Team members will be approaching library staff, as well as students and faculty, for input. Some of the Team will be heading to a Learning Commons Conference in June at the University of Guelph http://www.learningcommons.ca/. Lots of great ideas are circulating already as we start to think about the possibilities for our users and our staff in the future.
Prior to the Planning Team’s first meeting, Roger Farwell and Marie Marx, of The Walter Fedy Partnership, had already begun some background research as well as some interviews with librarians, library managers, library executive members, and some key university members. The focus of Walter Fedy’s work at this stage is to assist us to develop broad concepts of how the UW Library would look in 10-12 years - if we could afford to do everything we want to do to support the University’s mission to achieve international excellence. In subsequent stages we will focus on the near term.
These updates will be sent at intervals during the work of the Team. Please contact any Team member whenever you have an idea to share, or a question about our work.
Update 2: July 26, 2006
The Renovation Planning Team has been continuing its investigations and discussions.
Many members of the Team attended a Learning Commons Conference at the University of Guelph (see http://www.learningcommons.ca/). There were participants from across the country as well as from Upper State New York. Attendees gained an appreciation for the value of the learning commons concept for improving the educational experience of our students, and were impressed with the variety of models that exist at different libraries. The importance of customizing the concept for our local environment was one of the key lessons learned by the Team as we "consider collaborative opportunities with other campus constituencies," according to our mandate.
Other aspects of the Team mandate are also well underway. The Porter ISR department has been discussing the size of the reference/abstract collection and other needs for the floor, while Circulation Services at Porter has been considering space needs in their area. Conversations have taken place with the heads of Graphic Services and Food Services. The Team continues to interview library users of all types, and to integrate what we have learned from interviews, readings, and visits as we list priorities for the main floor.
The Team mandate and membership can be found at: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/renodpl/index.html.
Publications
Learning Spaces - The 12th chapter in Educause's Educating the Net Generation, author Malcolm Brown "establishes the links between Net Gen students, learning theory, and [Information Technology] IT."
Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005) - This membership report from the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) "summarizes the findings of an international study" that focuses on how people use libraries facilities, resources, and services.
Information/Learning Commons Web Sites
Brock University's James E. Gibson Library - Learning Commons (renovations in progress)
Carleton University Library - Carleton University Learning Commons
McMaster University Library - Mills Learning Commons (renovations in progress)
Queen's University Library - The Queen's Learning Commons
Ryerson University Library - Ronald D. Besse Information and Learning Commons
University of Guelph Library - The Learning Commons
University of Toronto Libraries - Scotiabank Information Commons
University of Toronto Libraries (Mississauga) - Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre (renovations in progress)
University of Waterloo Library
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4883
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